Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Fight club...

I had of course heard about the movie before. And was told from one and all that its some sort of a cult movie…now I have a thing against generalizations like that, a movie can be a master piece for its script, superlative performances, editing, direction, visual appeal etc. but I don’t really understand this phenomenon called “cult”.

So last weekend I had a chance to watch the movie…I was quite skeptic…not sure what to expect…having seen Ed Norton in other roles I was at least hopeful from his performance and Brad Pitt can quite manage to act at times apart from just looking good on screen…

The movie was gripping from the very first scene…you don’t want to stray for even a moment lest you miss some important tidbit…the director and the editors don’t digress from the theme for even a second and the movie does not drag anywhere…when the realization of what has happened sinks in it is almost a “Eureka” moment for the audience…and you feel absurdly surprised and silly at the same time…like you feel after reading a Agatha Christie…the clues were there in front of you all the time…you just never pieced them together…Needless to say the performances were easily the best I have ever seen…even the role of the maniacal “Marla Singer” was performed flawlessly by Helena Bonham Carter…it had to be given the fact that the character of Marla is what ties the lives of Tyler and Jack…Ed Norton has played the quintessential yuppie who lives a cataloged life where days and nights merge without any meaning and each moment is similar to the other…Tyler Durden, on the other hand (played by Brad Pitt) is a man with a mission…who seemingly has realized the burden of consumerization that we carry and has broken free from it and now wants to free the world…reminded me of “Sam Lowry” played by Jonathan Pryce in the movie “Brazil”…the movie peaks with the twist that actually leaves you breathless…

All in all a brilliant movie not just for the script but the treatment and the performances…A must watch.

1 comment:

Abhinav said...

Did I tell you that once when I was asked who's my favorite leader in one of the lectures in the course "Leadership", I answered, "Tyler Durden".

Infact, I made my project presentation on how this movie is the most inspiring (from a leadership perspective) movie ever.